Audio artifacting under heavy load

[MrWalshy]

Your system information

• Steam client version: 1731990050
• SteamOS version: 3.6.20
• Opted into Steam client beta?: No
• Opted into SteamOS beta?: No
• Have you checked for updates in Settings > System?: Yes

Please describe your issue in as much detail as possible:

Audio should play clearly, including under load. This is how it functioned on my LCD deck, which I retired for the LE white OLED.

During gaming, across many of the heavier titles, audio crackles under a high load. Two prime examples are The Last of Us and Red Dead Redemption, also noticed on GTA Trilogy and The Witcher 3 although less often. Setting a frame cap, which is more easily attainable, removes all audio crackling.

Seems to be related to the CPU not having enough resources, or power is not being budgeted appropriately (recent change that has people complaining about TDP makes me suspicious this could be related)???

Attached video to demonstrate: https://youtu.be/aaCyH7Meq0M?feature=shared

Noticed others seem to be describing a similar issue on Reddit as of the most recent update, some saying they haven't encountered it since early in the original OLED release cycle. Some on LCD have also described the issue similarly. Reddit search "audio" on r/SteamDeck, sort by date or filter to last month to see a bunch of threads.

If anything else is required, please let me know.

Steps for reproducing this issue:

1. Ensure uncapped frame rate
2. Run Game that heavily stresses CPU and/or GPU

[KeldorDE]

I'm experiencing the same issue on my 1 TB Steam Deck OLED with Bluetooth earbuds. This occurs in every game, especially under heavy load, as described by MrWalshy.

[MrWalshy]

I'm experiencing the same issue on my 1 TB Steam Deck OLED with Bluetooth earbuds. This occurs in every game, especially under heavy load, as described by MrWalshy.

Some people indicate using Proton GE 9.16 or official Proton 8 remedies their audio issues while it doesn't for others, could be worth giving those a try @KeldorDE... but it looks like some are just using it as a panacea to say Proton 9 after some version bad, others good, uh duh - although it could be a Proton issue, I'm not wise enough in that regard to say for sure.

No luck in my case, but I generally run a capped FPS so it doesn't present for most titles I play unless I unlock the cap.

[kisak-valve]

Hello @MrWalshy, as an extension of that line of thought, can you give ValveSoftware/Proton#6653 (comment) a try?

[MrWalshy]

@kisak-valve Just about to head off to sleep, I'll take a proper gander tomorrow and see what happens - seems to be a slightly customised version of Proton if I'm right, I'll check it against the games I've had issues with and not just TLOU for sanity/prosperity haha. If the issue persists, I'll record it again just to evidence it + supply anything else if needed.